New Delhi: Former cricketer and three-time parliamentarian Kirti Azad posted an old video from the 2021 West Bengal assembly election while claiming that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are being attacked and chased away in villages during their ongoing election campaign in Uttar Pradesh.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader posted the video on Twitter Saturday morning, stating that “While shoes are being showered on them across villages on TV, they are crossing over 300 seats”. BJP leaders have said that they are confident of winning more than 300 seats in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections.
The video has since been shared widely with over 150 tweets and 600 likes on Twitter.
गांव गांव में जूतों की बौछार चल रही है
टीवी पर लेकिन 300 पार चल रही है
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/pvn4uVpMLJ— Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzaad) February 12, 2022
In the video, multiple villagers can be seen shouting and chasing a politician wearing a saffron shawl with sticks. Towards the end, his security personnel manage to escort him to a vehicle, which then speeds off — but not before villagers damage its rear window.
The video has also been shared many times by other Twitter accounts making similar claims. One user’s post has been retweeted more than 31,000 times, with over 8,000 likes.
जनता वोट देने के लिए पीछे आरही है और नेताजी मुंह छुपा कर भाग रहे है…😂 pic.twitter.com/zikFW8Stqr
— नादेरा अंजुम 633K ٘نَادِرَہ٘ اَن٘جُم (@nadera_anjum) February 5, 2022
The video has also been posted across Twitter by users claiming to be members or affiliated with political parties, such as the Aam Aadmi Party.
गांव गांव में भाजपाइयों पर जूतों की बौछार चल रही है लेकिन टीवी पर उनकी 300 पार चल रही है।🤣😂🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/fOKSiIvrlA
— Suryansh Chaudhary AAP (@AapKaSuryansh) February 8, 2022
Fact check
The original video is from April last year, when angry villagers chased out a political leader after damaging his car.
Bengali newspaper Sangbad Pratidin had shared the video on April 29, 2021, on its YouTube channel, with the title, “BJP candidate from Bolpur Anirban Ganguly’s convoy attacked at Ilambazar, Birbhum”.
Another news platform, Nandighosha TV, had shared the video on the same date on YouTube, stating that “Villagers of Dharampur chased BJP candidate and drove him out of the village”.
(In collaboration with SM HoaxSlayer)
Also read: Viral video of policemen chanting ‘Jayant Chaudhary zindabad’ is from Rampur, not Meerut
Source: The Print
